Pyrophoric lighter



Feb. 22, 1949. Q Q CLAMP 2,462,467

PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Filed DSC. 18, 1945 BY Charles. C @Zum/27,

ATTORNEY.

INVENTOH,

Patented Feb. 22, `1949 PYRGPHORIC LIGHTER? K Gha-rlesl). Clamp, SantAntonio,v Tex; A Application-December'18, 1945i Serial'N:A 635,734

My.;invention:which.relates; generally; totpyrofphori'cf: lighters has:y particular reference` to the sparking mechanism ofi' such llighters.

They invention.ihasfffnfI fitsfobjects:

1:1 To .provideaalightenff inf which thel sparking unit as afwhole is'lreadilyff removable from thel lighter case which contains the fuel reservoir.

To*provideafliglitenthat can be filled from the top, if desired, vas well as from the bottom.

3. To providefasparlringunitiwliich is rotatably or.` pivotallyi. mounted in a-seat1in:the.case

where, when once properly positioned, .it is held.

by retainingV friction with aliquidand air tight joint.

4. 110;1 provide an individual, self-contained; andscomplete sparkingunt thatcan be, applied to a lighter fuelsv reservoir. having. any shaped surface--flat, round; or-irregular-where a taperediholeA may be machinedsinthat surface-con` tion that the spring action will cause the spark wheel to consume all of the spark material (int) down to a point where it is impossible to hold it against the spark Wheel, which is approximately cne-sixty-fourth of an inch thick.

8. To provide a sparking unit of such construction that when the last piece of ilint is kicked out cf position by the spark wheel, the spring tension in the flint chamber is automatically stopped, thereby allowing the spark wheel to be turned freely, no part of the spring being capable of contacting the wheel.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention further resides in those novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will hereafter be described and will then be specifically pointed out in the appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a lighter embodying my invention.

Eig.. 2 isaaview similar tovEigf. 13,11 the. coverroft the.` case4 being.` shorvvn.in'.section:

Figa. 3: is; an enlarged: side# elevation.; off thea sparkingfunit:

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the same, takenL-v freni-Fig.. 3;

Eig. 5I isfayerticalf section; on; the .line -roff Figr:

Fig. 6 is a` vertical; section. on. the linearGI-Efofi Figi 4:-

Inzthezdrawing, in whichzlike; numerals:- of" refe. erenceyindicate. like4 partszin all?iiguresg,I..1 is the: body.v ofi thecase: which. contains .the fluidchamben I9; the bottom;offwhicli.` isz'closed by. a screvwplug:` 4i. The; top: of` the: chamber;` isi? closed?, .savezV for; an tapered. holeu 5; in'.` which .the-.1 sparking; unita is'.` seated;` as zwill; latersmorevfully: appear:

The vcasein'cludes, theremovablestorr, .winch isxthreadedionto thefthreadedneck ofthebciiyils;

Ther sparking-. unitgcbestlshpwn; in Figs.; Siftn" inclusive; comprises;aztaperedibodycGlformedzfrom the lpin I'I.

a solid piece of metal, slotted at. IIi andbonerie at 9 and I0. The slot II provides space for the spark wheel I6, which is rotatably mounted on The space between the periphery of the wheel I6 and the bottom of the slot II is the spark gap.

The axis of the pin I'I intersects the common axis of the bores 9 and I0 at right angles.

The bore 9 constitutes the spring chamber and is entered from the end of the body 6 that is remote from the wheel IB. The entrant end of the chamber 9 is normally closed by a threaded plug 8 having a head 'I that is milled, as shown, and is provided with a cross bore I5 of the same diameter as the bore I0. The bore III constitutes the sparking member or ilint chamber which has a ilared entrance I9.

The bore I5 constitutes a flint gauge by means of which the proper sized int to use is determinajble. The flint I2 lies in the flint chamber or bore I0 and is pressed radially againstthe wheel I6 by a spring I3 held in the chamber 9, one end of the spring being formed into a tight coil I4 of a diameter to move freely into chamber I0, as the flint is consumed, and of such length as to completely feed the flint out of the top or exit end of the chamber, but not long enough to contact the wheel I6 when the main body of the spring is stopped by its top convolution I3X arriving at the restriction formed by the tapered entrance I9.

I8 represents the wick tube from which the usual wick 20 projects to be ignited by sparks thrown by the wheel I6 toward the wick.

The taper of the body 6 and that of its seat in the top of case I is such that a uid-tight t is produced when the body 8 is forced into the seat formed by the tapered hole 5.

Because the body 6 is circular in cross-section it can be turned about its axis so as to line up the wheel I 5 with the wick 20 and locked in place by friction, serving as a stopper for the hole 5 at the same time. Thecase l usually is lled with cotton or other absorbent for the lighter uid, butas this is common practice in lighters of the present type, illustration thereof Y is thought to be unnecessary.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a flint of about the usual Vlength employed (this is somewhat variable),

while in Fig. 5 I have shown the flint Worn down to the thickness at which the next turn', of the wheel I6 will kick it out. v

To place a new iiint, ,one only has to remove the unit from the case, then remove plug 8 and spring I3, drop a new intinto chamber I (the unit being inverted, of course), and replace spring I3 and plug 8, whereupon the'unit will be ready for use, and may` be plugged into the hole again.

To ll the fluid chamber, the plug 4 may be removed and the chamber lled from the bottom, or it may be lled through the hole 5 when the sparking unit has been removed.

In practice, this is a precision machined lighter.

The tolerances are very close and therefore a '4 What I claim is:

In a lighter wherein is provided a sparking unit comprising a tapered body having a longitudinally extending transverse slot at one end, a 5 sparking wheel rotatably mounted in said slot,

said body having a bore of one diameter entering from the end of the body remote from the slotted end and having a bore of a reduced diameter between the first bore and said slot, the rst 10 bore comprising aspringchamber and the second mentioned bore comprising a int chamber the axis of which coincides with a radius of said wheel, the improvement which comprises a coil spring having an open wound springy section solely operating in said rst mentioned bore, and

having a;V reduced closely coiled section of reduced diameter to operate in said bores to push a iiint through said iiint chamber in contact with thel sparking wheel, said reduced-diameter Q0 portion being of a length sufficient to push the lflint entirely out Vof said kiiint chamber as the.

:Hint wears down and said body having means to stop the int pushing movement of the spring before the end of the reduced-diameter section can contact the sparking wheel` and after the iiint shall have been substantially consumed.

CHARLES C. CLAMP.

-3 REFERENCES CITED The following references are iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS of record in the 33T Number France Oct. 31, 1912 

